Weighing in at a whopping 10lb 3 oz, Angus James Bentley LEWIS GOURDIE was born at home on Saturday 08 December.
George and Angus are well. Jemima and Beatrice are chuffed to bits to have a baby in the house and think having a brother is pretty cool too. Dad has been off on paternity leave and has been getting to grips to the role of Domestic Unit Manager – a tiring task further complicated by a left ankle that is feeling the cold.
As a family, we went out on the Friday to our first ever Pantomime; ‘Cinderella’ at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. We all loved it, especially the girls, and although George was uncomfortable throughout the performance, we figured that it would have been the case no matter where we were. Afterwards we went to dinner at a local restaurant, although George was slightly less keen than the rest of us. Luckily it was a gourmet burger joint, because when George returned from the washroom and said “I think my waters have just gone”, we said “can we get that to takeaway?!”.
In the end we caught a bus home, because we had come in that way and it was faster than getting a taxi. The girls ate their dinner on the bus and were quickly put through the bath and into bed. George was pretty mellow and was happy to spend the evening pottering around ‘tidying up’ etc. At 8:30pm I exercised my right to call Sue Rose, our independent midwife. We agreed that, rather than call her too late, she should come over when she was ready and she could stay in our spare room.
George was in the bath when Sue arrived after 9:30pm. Things were progressing slowly and steadily and I was told to “go away” when I stuck my head in the door (George likes to labour in private). We all went to bed by 11pm, leaving George to move around. Her noisy entry into the bedroom at 2am was a signal for me to wake up and get Sue up. Sue eventually came downstairs at around 2:45am and this seemed to give George ‘permission’ to crack on.
[Photo: George & Rob being checked out by wee Angus. Rob is topless, not because he was dancing around the fire in some hippy ritual, but because skin on skin contact is the best way to warm and regulate a baby's body temperature - sorry to disappoint on the hippy dancing thing...]And then at 3:25am, little Angus launched himself into this world. Born in the (new) kitchen, we made our way through to the Sitting Room, resplendent with Christmas tree, Tirkish Rug on the floor (for winter) and the flames dancing over the coals of our gas fire. At 7am Jemima appeared on the stairs and cautiously came in to find her new brother. She then darted upstairs and dragged Beatrice downstairs with news of the much anticipated arrival.
